Just saw “Carnage”. A great demonstration on how couples can fight in order to destroy each other. Spoiler alert: here are just some of the rules, according to the movie:
1. Treat the other with contempt and sarcasm; bully them overtly or covertly
2. Engage in character assassination
3. Expose and pick on your partner’s areas of self-hate
4. Tease your partner about their values or aspects of themselves that matter to them
5. Change the focus to unrelated, but awful, issues, making them seem as if they are part of the conversation, thus throwing your partner off balance
6. Throw up on something that was valuable to the other person
7. Keep your phone on and pick up all calls, or text throughout
8. Belittle or dismiss the other
9. Start drinking heavily in the middle of the fight
10. Call your partner names or insult them: “You’re DISGUSTING!” “That’s the most idiotic thing you’ve every said!”
11. Distort the meaning of what they are trying to express into something hateful
12. Do this in front of other people
13. Do something to deliberately provoke the other like handing out cigars to your guest when it’s always been a house rule not to smoke in the house
14. Say nasty things about your partner to the other people, like, “She’s always hysterical like this”
15. Throw a punch at your mate